Nepal’s banking sector is coming under increasing pressure following a series of attacks on bank employees, raising serious concerns about financial stability, depositor confidence, and the broader economy.

While attacks on bank employees have been increasing for several years, the most recent incident occurred on Saturday at NIMB's Ghorahi branch in Dang district. Employees carrying out official loan recovery duties were physically assaulted by an unruly group.

Similar attacks were reported a few days earlier at NIC Bank's Itahari branch and, before that, at Jyoti Bikash Bank in Saptari.

Condemning the violence, the Nepal Investment Mega Bank Employees' Union said bank staff are becoming increasingly vulnerable and called on Nepal Rastra Bank to intervene. Union President Shivahari Bhandari said the Ghorahi attack was carried out with clear intent to cause serious harm and should not be viewed as an isolated incident.

Investment Mega Bank employees beaten up while going to collect a loan

Kathmandu. An incident of a borrower beating up a bank employee who went to collect the loan has been made public in Ghorahi. Nepal Investment Mega Bank's Ghorahi branch manager Navin Thapa and employee Manish Sedai were beaten up on Sunday (May 20).

The bank employee had gone to the house to appeal to the borrower to explain that he had not paid the loan on time and to save him from legal risks. However, the borrower Umakanta Bhandari, instead of appealing, abused him and assaulted him.

The borrower Bhandari had taken a loan of Rs 5 million in the name of Bhandari Brother from the Ghorahi branch. Initially, he had paid the loan regularly, but recently he had not paid for a long time. Since the bank was not able to repay the loan on time, the risk of being blacklisted and facing legal action would increase, the bank employee who was supposed to communicate with the borrower went to the borrower's door.

Bank branch manager Navin Thapa, employee Manish Sedai and the driver reached the borrower's house on Sunday. They appealed to the borrower to repay the loan on time and tried to listen to the problems the borrower was facing. The bank's objective was only to protect the borrower from legal action and to secure the bank's funds. However, during the discussion, the borrower Bhandari began to intimidate and threaten the employee by using abusive language.

Bhandari abused the employee, saying, "What can I do if I don't repay the loan?" and beat him up. The employee of the affected bank complained that Bhandari even boasted that he was a local leader of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). If there was any problem with the bank's loan not being paid on time and asking for time from the bank and appealing, instead of asking for time from the bank and appealing, Bhandari physically attacked the employee. He not only abused the employee, but also slapped him and threw him out of the house. The employee concerned, Sedai, said that he had gone to the debtor's door to appeal for loan recovery.

Bank employees Attacking increased: How safe is banks employee ?

Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) say repeated acts of violence against staff – particularly those involved in loan recovery and fieldwork – are creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. These incidents are not only undermining day-to-day operations but are also beginning to threaten trust in the financial system itself.

The reality today is that the working environment for bank employees is becoming increasingly unsafe. This has been shown in recent public news.

Death threats, physical attacks and indecent behavior against bank employees during loan recovery are increasing. This is not a problem of any one bank or one branch, it is a serious crisis of the entire banking sector.

When taking a loan from a bank, the customer is clearly informed about everything, how much amount, how many installments, how much interest, how much period, how much EMI will be. Until the time of signing the paper, the loan is taken after understanding and agreeing to everything. But recently, when the time comes to repay the loan, there is an increasing tendency to blame the bank, bank employees and the system.